Both Barrels August 2017

Special Edition

The game bird season has ended... or has it?

The season for upland game birds is closing (Aug 27) but if you’re dead keen – and up for a bit of travelling – there’s some summer hunting available in the form of special hunts in different parts of the country.

Plan ahead! In the North Island, special hunts are being held in Northland and Taranaki.

In the South Island, they are being held in Nelson / Marlborough, West Coast, the Central South Island and Otago regions.

See below for more details.

Aside from catching one of the special seasons, spring is the time for some predator control to help the birds at your favourite hunting spot. Set some traps for stoats and other mustelids.

Have a hard look at your gear over summer too, and do some maintenance on your decoys or other gear.

The good weather provides a good opportunity to brush up your hunting skills at a local gun club or clay bird range.

Thanks to Jamie Otley for the photo, left to right, of Hamish Tiffen, Cameron Lane, Sam Tiffen, and Emma Otley – at the Waintuna Game Birds family day at Waimate.

Special Hunts in 2018

Northland Fish & Game is allowing a special paradise shelduck open season on the weekend of February 24 and 25, 2018.

Special pukeko and black swan seasons will be held from February 24 to March 4, but be sure to check with Northland Fish & Game office on the conditions that apply.

In Taranaki, special paradise shelduck seasons will be held in February and March, 2018.

The season applies to Area C only, on the weekends of February 24 and 25, and March 3 and 4. All hunters, including land occupiers, must hold a valid Taranaki Special Season Hunting Permit to take part. Permits are available from the Taranaki Fish and Game office and selected licence agents.

In the South Island, a special hunting season for paradise shelduck will run from Jan 13 to March 4 in North Canterbury (but check the different bag limits that apply to Areas A and B!) .

Nelson Marlborough has a special pukeko season from January 1 to February 25 in Tasman and Golden Bay only.

West Coast is catering to young hunters with special seasons for parries and pukeko from March 3 to 11 (junior licenceholders only).

In Otago, the summer paradise duck season is open for junior hunters only for one day on March 3, 2018.

Central South Island has a special summer season for mallards, greys and parries in February, on the weekends of the 3rd and 4th and 10th and 11th in specified areas.

Straight Shooting

Make your vote count

Hunters, the general election is bearing down fast! With only weeks to go Fish & Game calls on you, hunters and anglers (or aspiring), to think about who to vote for. Which party has the best environmental policies to protect our outdoor environment and our interests? Most parties have woken up to fact that our dirty rivers are way out of step with what Kiwis want – which is immediate action to return rivers to a swimmable, fishable and drinkable condition.

Fish & Game urges voters to consider the merits of each and every party’s environmental policy with a critical eye before voting. We offer an easy tool to have your say. Visit www.h2whoa.co.nz for some facts on the water quality issue and links to some of the key reports by government agencies and other organisations. With just a couple of clicks you can send a letter and call for action from your local MP. Let’s keep the debate going!

Calling all duck callers!

The national duck calling champs are on again. The event is being held in Taupo as part of the Sika Show, on September 30. There will be four categories: junior, open meat duck, team duck and open live goose. Young folk will be well catered for with novice calling clinics run through the day. For more information, contact Adam Rayner at crate@kinect.co.nz

Firearms case dismissed

A man seen taking a gun into the Ashburton public toilets says he’s been “vindicated” by the courts, with all charges against him dismissed, after a judge ruled police improperly obtained evidence. As reported in last months Both Barrels, Richard Lincoln, 56, was facing charges including possession of two restricted firearms, in the local court. On the day of his arrest, Lincoln had been travelling from Timaru to Christchurch to deliver a Heckler & Koch SL8 firearm to a gunsmith for work. He says he stopped twice with the gun slung over his shoulder, “as the law requires you to not leave firearms in an unattended vehicle.”

Hunting book winner

Auckland hunter Jane Carmine is the winner of a new book by Fish & Game NZ magazine writer Peter Ryan – Hunting New Zealand, Parts Unknown. Jane was snapped by husband Vincent on a hunt in Maramarua Forest. Jane is a dietician by trade, so she knows better than all of us the food value of wild game. If you’d like her recipe for pheasant terrine, email us and we’ll send it to you. Thanks to all of you who sent in your photos to be in the running. We hope to use more of them in our publications – with a credit, of course.